Imaginary
by mayrwyn
Summary: Summary: Of course he was imaginary, but that really didn't matter. She could have a secret imaginary friend if she wanted to. His name was Dare. He was a Dragon and when they were both big enough, they were going to fly off and dare great things together.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

The first time it happened, Carol was nine.

She was snuggled up in her bed, the quilt her grandmother made for her pulled over her head and a flashlight in her hands as she struggled to get to the end of the Anne McCaffrey book from last Saturday's trip to the library. She kept getting distracted from the adventures of Lessa and F'Lar by the thought of what color dragon might choose her and by the heavy pull of sleep.

She closed her eyes and tried to picture herself soaring through the skies of Pern astride the most magnificent creature she could conjure when a voice that wasn't hers said, _I'm sorry_.

"What do you have to be sorry for?", Carol whispered into the dark of her room.

For the longest time, no one answered. Then, a hesitant voice said, _Bein' me, I s'pose_.

Now, Carol was nine years old, and thought herself a bit old for an imaginary friend. But an imaginary _Dragon_ might be a bit of fun, and no one had to know, as long as they only used the mind-speak.

A little thrill curled through her, and she giggled at the silliness of herself. Sure. She was Chosen, then, wasn't she? And this was her Dragon. Of course he was imaginary, but that didn't really matter. She could have a secret imaginary friend if she wanted to. "What's your name?"

 _Dare_ , the voice said. Carol thought it was rather a fitting name, and that the two of them would dare great things together, Dragon and Rider. _What's yours?_

"I'm Carol. I'm going to take care of you while you grow, and then we'll fly off together and have great adventures!"

The voice didn't answer for a long time, but when it did it sounded kind of frightened. _Never had a friend before. I don't know how._

 _That's okay_ , Carol said. _I'll show you_.

A hundred miles away, hiding underneath a stack of old clothes in the far corner of his big brother's closet, five-year-old Daryl Dixon shut out the sounds of his father hurting his brother, and talked to his new friend until the house grew quiet and the sun came up.

Carol didn't have friends, not really. Her mom worried about it more than Carol did, though, because as long as she had books and Dare, it didn't bother her very often that the other kids looked at her funny. She had a reputation for talking to herself, and for always having her nose in a book, and for being just generally weird.

She didn't tell anyone about Dare.

Every now and then, she thought that Dare might be real, and that scared her a little. He was separate and distinct from her in a way that was hard to put into words about a dragon that lived inside her imagination. His thoughts felt like they came from outside, and some of the things that happened to him were awful. If Dare wasn't real, then Carol was making it all up.

Carol didn't think she would make up a story that hurt Dare as much as it hurt when the fire killed his Mama. Carol didn't want anything bad to happen to Dare ever, and that was more than bad. Dare seldom talked about things that happened to him when they weren't talking to each other, but that day, Carol had been playing in her back yard when she heard Dare scream so loud that she covered her ears and fell off the swing. Dare screamed for a long time before there were any words, and it took even longer for Carol to catch her breath enough to try to talk to him.

When the world righted itself, her dad was checking her everywhere and asking her where she was hurt. Dad had looked out the window, had seen her curled up on the ground with her hands over her ears crying, and he'd come running. When she told Dare that, later, he apologized for getting her in trouble.

 _I'm sorry. Shouldn't'a done that._

 _I wasn't in trouble, and you don't have anything to be sorry about, Dare. I promise._

 _You get a whoopin'?_

 _No. I just told him I fell off the swing._

Dare said, _Oh. Okay then._

That time, he was mostly gone for weeks and weeks, it seemed like. Carol would have worried if he didn't respond to the occasional brushes of her mind with something that felt very much like the inside of Carol's chest when she was crying and didn't want her mama to pat on her. Dare just wanted to be alone to cry.

And sometimes he talked about things that Carol didn't know anything about. Or maybe that she didn't know that she didn't know anything about. Because if he was imaginary, surely it all to be in her brain somewhere.

So it wasn't just that a feelin' that Dare might be sort of real. There was evidence. Still, the idea of Dare not being imaginary was one that Carol pretended she didn't have. Because then maybe she would be crazy. You couldn't talk to other people inside of your own mind. If people could do that, well, the whole world would be a lot different. She was probably just a little bit crazy right now. If she believed that he was really, absolutely, real then she was either a freak of nature or she was a lot more than a little bit crazy.

Carol decided not to try to figure anything out. Because if she thought too much about it? Well, she maybe should tell her parents about him. And then they might give her crazy pills that made him go away, and he was the best friend Carol had ever had.

The problem with Dare, was, sometimes it didn't matter what Carol decided, he just went ahead and did what he was going to do, anyway. One day when she was twelve, Carol was studying and bored and out of nowhere, it seemed, Dare said, _Dragons aren't real_.

"What are you, then?" Carol was alone in her room, her history book pen on her bed, and spoke aloud as if Dare was right beside her. He was a little argumentative for someone who was imaginary.

 _I'm a boy. And you're imaginary. I'm real._

He'd said similar things before. Carol didn't like it. She'd declared the topic taboo. Then she tried to explain what the word taboo meant, only Dare had already known what the word meant, and by the time they made up he seemed to have forgotten all about the whole thing. But apparently not, because he brought it up again. Carol detested that he wouldn't cooperate and just let it be. It made her feel like a freak, and every time she thought about the whole real/not real thing she felt like she was going to throw up. Dare had been kind of fixated on it for several days, now, though. And he was grumpy. He was probably hungry. Dare was always hungry. Carol shrugged. "If I'm imaginary, why do I have to do history homework?"

 _I'm either being a baby or I'm crazy. Ain't neither one of those okay._

"Really? You're only nine. I'm thirteen. If one of us is being a baby, it's me. And if one of us is imaginary, it's the dragon," Carol said in her sweetest voice. "I suppose you can be an imaginary boy, if you really want. But then how will we fly when we have our adventures?"

 _Those are stories you tell. No, that I make up. I make up stories, and they have a girl in them. Ain't got time for no more of that baby shit. And four? Where'd you get that?_

"Because I heard you the first time four years ago! Remember, I we were reading –"

 _I was hiding like a coward while my old man whaled on my brother, and I made you up so I could pretend I didn't hear it and shouldn't go out and help him. Don't pretty that up. You don't get to do that._

The corner of her head where Dare lived went silent. She gave him the mental equivalent of a nudge. Then a shove. Then he seemed to disappear altogether, and he'd never done that before.

Dare was a dragon, she insisted. He was not real. But he had been quiet for a very long time, and it felt like he might be really gone.

That was new. It made her feel sick to her stomach and a little panicky. Carol closed her eyes and focused all of her attention on the space that Dare usually filled with his presence. _I'm sorry I called you imaginary, Dare. And if you say you are nine and a boy and not a dragon, then you are nine and a boy and not a dragon._

She felt the faintest brush of his presence, then something like a sigh. Dare said, _I can be a Dragon for ya, I guess. Just don't go tellin' nobody._

 _I would never!_ Carol answered. And it was true. Carol suspected that if she thought about Dare too much she would be afraid of him. Not him, him. But afraid because he was there at all. She shoved that thought right out of her head. No more of that.

 _Ain't neither of us crazy, and we both real_ , Dare insisted. Then, sounding less certain, _okay?_

"Okay," Carol said aloud. "If we're both real," she stopped, unsure of just how she should say what she was going to say next, "maybe I could help you?"

 _Don't need help. Just a friend._

 _But – nevermind._ She would try to get him to tell her more later. She didn't want him going quiet again. _You sound like something's wrong._

 _Just got a stupid itch. Ain't nothin'._

That was the last time either of them let themselves think about how strange it was that they talked to each other. Neither did they ever imagine meeting in the flesh, though, because in the deepest most secret parts of themselves each of them knew the other was out in the world somewhere, other parts were terrified that they were wrong.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The first time it happened, Daryl was hiding in a closet trying to breathe without making the slightest sound. He wasn't sure how old he was, but he remembered that his head had been full of apologies to the big brother standing between their father and that closet door. He knew that even with his hands over his ears he could hear the sounds of flesh connecting with flesh and the grunts that Merle made when he was trying his hardest not to yell. Because if he yelled then the old man would call him a pussy and hit him harder.

Then she was there. Carol. She told him that he didn't have anything to be sorry for, and she talked about setting off on grand adventures together.

Daryl remembered the instant he heard her voice, even if he wasn't sure exactly how long ago that was.

 _Nine years_ , Carol said _. It was nine years._ _Are you still mad at me?_

Yeah, see, that was the problem, wasn't it? Whether she was real or not (and whether Daryl was real or not), was a taboo subject. And sure, maybe they said once upon a time that they were both real and neither of them only lived in Daryl's head because he had some sort of mental break as a kid and then got way too attached to his hallucination. But Carol changed her mind. She married an asshole no more'n a week ago.

 _You're still angry._

 _Not mad._ Daryl thought. And it was true that mad wasn't exactly the right word. _Just thought it was gonna be you and me headin' off, remember?_

 _I'm going to miss you, Dare._

Daryl shrugged. _Not goin' anywhere. Still here, whether you talk to me or not._

He wished he was a little more sure of that. Carol married an asshole (who seemed like he probably wasn't an asshole, but Daryl didn't trust him) because she wanted to live in the real world.

Sometimes, when things were worse than usual, Daryl wondered if maybe he weren't the one who was imaginary after all. Either way, there wasn't a damned thing he could be for Carol in the real world, now or ever.

 _I love you, Dare. You'll always be my best friend._

Daryl was so shocked by her words that she was gone before he could think anything else at her.

 _Carol?_

Silence echoed back at him.

There was a sharp pain at the back of his head and then a ringing in his hears. When his vision cleared, Merle was in his face, glaring, "You havin' a fit?"

"I'm fine. Shut up before you wake up the old man."

"He's good and passed out. You ain't outgrowed that starin' thing yet? You ain't gonna flop around on me are ya? Knew a fella did that once. Took too many hits to the head."

"So you're idea is to hit me in the head to bring me out of it? That's real smart, Merle."

"Won't hit you if you flop around. But if you just starin' into space, that's all there is for it. Now, hurry up and grab your shit, Darylina, we're hittin' the road."

Daryl almost said that he couldn't go. Not like this. That he wanted to finish high school. That he had a real chance at a scholarship and maybe going to college. Except he was pretty sure that his daddy would kill him long before he managed to do any of that if he stayed here, and besides, that sounded exactly like the sort of thing that would make Merle call him a pussy and beat some sense into him.

Daryl grabbed his duffel bag.

Carol had been imaginary, is all. She never was real.

At least she said goodbye. Better than he'd done, weren't it?

The next time Carol came to him, he was sitting outside a courtroom on a bench, slightly dazed, tryin' to figure out what he was going to do next. Merle was gonna be gone for three months, there was an eviction notice currently on the door of the camper they were renting in Merle's dealer's back yard, and Daryl had fourteen dollars and sixty-eight cents in his pocket.

 _Dare?_

He knew he shouldn't answer her. That she was back now, in this moment? Years after Merle come back for him and Daryl left her behind in the back room of that house? Well, that sort of lent itself to the idea that she did not, in fact, exist. She was a crutch. He shouldn't answer her.

She sounded like she was crying.

 _Hey Carol. You okay?_

She sniffed at him, but there was a smile in her voice. _I'm so sorry, Dare. I shouldn't have shut you out like that._

 _You don't sound okay._

 _I'm fine. I fell down the stairs, and things happened, and I have to stay in the hospital overnight. I just needed a friend._

Daryl stood up and started walking toward the truck, careful not to speak aloud and look like a crazy person. Even if he technically was one. _I kinda need one of those too. You gotta show me how, though, remember._

 _I remember. Hey, want to go on an adventure?_

Daryl chuckled as he climbed into the driver's seat of the truck that had just become his home. Again. _Yeah, sure. I've got another hour on the parkin' meter and nowhere I have to be._

Carol didn't fall down the stairs.

Daryl knew Carol didn't fall down the stairs. He knew that she didn't fall down the stairs the same way that Mama didn't fall off the porch. The first time it happened he let her get away with the lie. He sat in the cab of the pickup and they got used to the whole process again. They spent hours building a forrest with a river running through it east to west, in the shadow of a massive mountain. There were waterfalls and a cave for Dare – who was still a damned dragon, but what the hell – and in the end they both fell asleep.

Daryl woke up to a parking ticket and a sense of embarrassment that twenty-year-old men did not build imaginary landscapes in which to adventure as an imaginary dragon. But what the hell, not like there was anybody who would ever know.

They talked every day while Carol was in the hospital. When she went home, it was more like every other day, and she always shut him firmly out when she heard the jingle of keys in the front door.

Daryl could feel the panic welling up inside of her every time, and it made his hands shake.

 _Leave that asshole._

 _I can't. I'm not talking about it with you, Daryl. He's my husband._

 _I'm your friend._

 _Enough._

The door in his mind slammed shut so hard it gave him a migraine. He spent hours ignoring her, but soon enough he was laying on the bench seat of the truck, a dirty tee shirt over his eyes to block out the light and a lukewarm bottled water in his hand, trying to bring her back.

 _I'm sorry._

 _I won't say anything about it. I just hate it when…_

 _I'm sorry._

 _Please._

Finally, her soft voice whispered back to him _, I just want a place where he isn't, Dare. Don't let him in here. He'll ruin it. You're the place where I'm happy._

 _I get it. I do. I won't do it again._

It was the hardest promise he ever kept.

Daryl was twenty eight, living in a tent at a KOA campground and doing roofing at a new subdivision near Cartersville when he woke up in the middle of the night, covered in sweat and feeling like a mule just kicked him in the gut.

 _Dare. Dare. Dare! Wake up, Dare. You've gotta see._

Daryl blinked hard, then laughed at her _. Watcha got to show me? We was just outside the cave last time, right? You were talking about a tree house._

He could feel Carol rolling her eyes at him. _So much better than a story, Dare. Look._

And then, somehow, he was looking down at something that made his heart stutter in his chest. This wasn't imaginary. This was what Carol was seeing in the world, and somehow she was managing to share it with him.

 _What is it?_

 _Don't be silly, Dare._

 _No, I mean, is it a girl one or a boy one?_

Carol sighed, happy and tired and hurtin' all over, although Daryl thought he was more aware of that last part than she was.

 _She's perfect. I've never seen anything so perfect._

 _What's our princess called then?_ He asked. And just like that, the asshole was dismissed. Daryl was careful not to think about him at all. No, Carol had this all by herself. Or maybe, since Carol was his, he would just claim this one too. Heaven knew the asshole didn't deserve either of them.

 _Sofia_.

The Princess Sofia scrunched up her nose in the cutest expression Daryl had ever laid eyes on, and let out a squawk.

 _Our Princess is hungry._

 _I'll take care of that. You go back to sleep._

Daryl found himself back in his tent, eyes wide and his face aching from smiling. Carol'd taken her eyes back. Daryl could have spent the night wondering how in the world she managed to show him that, or arguing with himself about whether any of it was real or not. (he still went back and forth on the reality of Carol, on those rare days when he let himself think about it at all) Instead, he pictured that tiny nose scrunching up, and smiled some more.

Carol hadn't said anything when he said _our_ instead of _your_.

Daryl slipped back into sleep with a smile on his face.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Carol had spent the last week recovering from her aborted escape attempt and trying not to let Dare know just how hurt she'd let herself get. Sophia kept looking at her with betrayal in her eyes, and Carol couldn't decide whether her little girl counted the leaving or the returning as betrayal. Sophia just wasn't old enough to understand. When they were settled in their room and the counselor had shown Carol her pamphlets about educational opportunities, Carol had started doing math in her head. There was no way some pro bono attorney was going to come out on top against one of Ed's expensive suits. She needed a better plan, a plan that included evidence. Pictures. Recordings. Things that would make sure when she did leave, she got to take Sophia with her and keep Edward James Peletier away from her forever.

To have evidence, she had to get hurt. It wasn't a plan Dare would approve of, but she was committed to it.

It may have worked, too, if the world hadn't ended.

One Tuesday morning, the morning shows talked about how many people were getting sick. By Wednesday night, words like Quarantine were being bandied about. On Thursday, there was nothing left but a recording telling people that there was a refuge center in Atlanta.

Ed crammed the Jeep full of MRE's and rambled on about situational awareness while Carol tried to pretend she was sleeping.

Dare sounded panicked inside her head.

 _You okay? Atlanta, they said. Get to Atlanta. You gonna be with the asshole? Care, answer me._

 _We're fine. Ed's actually pretty well prepared. Of course, he thought he was getting ready for a banking collapse._

 _Thought you – nevermind. It ain't important. Princess okay?_

 _She's fine, Dare. We're both fine. You?_

But he was gone. He did that sometimes. Dare tended to leave her alone when Ed was around, and Carol knew part of it was because she made him promise not to mention her husband under any circumstances.

There was no Atlanta. The city burned.

 _Dare? Talk to me. You weren't in there were you?_

 _Shit. You okay? The Princess? And then, You were close enough to see that?_

 _We're getting off the road. We're fine. Dare…be careful. I can't talk right now, but we're fine._

That was the last of any substance she heard from Dare for a long time. Truth be told, Carol was far too busy keeping an eye on Sophia and trying to keep Ed from getting them kicked out of the group they'd found to do much talking, anyway.

 _You ain't, y'know, sick or anything are ya?_

 _No. I promise. You?_

 _Just fightin' with my brother. We're good. Lookin' for a good spot to camp. Gonna hide out a while, see how things settle._

 _That's what we're doing. We're safe, Dare._

 _Ain't safe. You're with the asshole._

Carol startled, drawing Lori's eyes toward her. "Sorry, I nearly drifted off."

"You look exhausted. I can watch Sophia for a while if you want to lie down."

"Oh, no. I'm fine."

 _You promised, Dare._

 _Yeah. I'll shut up._

Dare got a lot less talkative after that. He still brushed up against her mind four or five times a day, but he didn't say much.

He always answered her when she wanted to talk, though. Late at night, when Sophia had drifted off and Ed was out for the night, she would slip into their forest and wait for him.

 _What if, one day, I came here and wasn't a dragon? He said one night._

Lori's husband had come to camp, and one of the men had been left behind. Carol had heard someone whispering about a brother, but that talk was around another fire all together. Carol had enough to worry about keeping up with Ed and Sophia, and praying that Dare would be okay out in the world somewhere.

Carol smiled. Dare always knew how to distract her. _But you're a dragon, remember?_

 _Course I do. But just what if…_

 _You were a boy?_

 _Pfft. Man. Ain't been a boy since you were a girl._

 _Well, I certainly hope you're a man some of the time, or else the Princess Sophia's birth would be quite the shocking bit of gossip throughout the land._

 _Ain't playin' stories._

 _I need to play stories, Dare. Please. It's – the world is so ugly._

He rumbled in agreement.

 _Thank you._

 _Got a monster needs slayin', though. So my man form might do that. If you wanted. Just give the word._

For the first time, she let him mention Ed without saying anything.

She didn't think about what that might mean.

The man's name was Merle, and his brother made a sound when they told him that his brother was cuffed to a roof that reminded Carol of what Dare sounded like when his Mama burned.

If it hadn't been for the camp getting overrun, Carol may have found time to talk to Dare about it.

Instead, they talked about something else.

 _I didn't slay the monster, Dare, but the Walkers did it for me. Is it wrong that I'm relieved? I'm supposed to grieve for a husband._

 _Ain't loved the asshole since he knocked ya down the first flight of stairs fifteen years ago. Hope you at least bashed his head in good._

 _Carol sighed. I did. I didn't even think about the people who might see. There was a man – nevermind._

 _Dare was quiet for a several breaths. You want to ask me something?_

 _I just want to sleep. But you're…okay? You aren't hurt?_

 _I'm fine._

He shied away from her in a way that he hadn't since puberty made things awkward.

 _Please don't leave me, Dare. Tell me what I did wrong?_

 _Nothing. Just busy is all. You safe to sleep?_

Carol thought of eyes that had followed her and Sophia all day, dismissed that as her imagination, then reminded herself that Rick and Shane were both just outside keeping watch.

 _We're fine. We'll be fine._

Everything happened too quickly after that for her to spare Ed so much as a thought. The CDC came and went in a blur of desperation and explosions.

And then they were hiding under cars, Sophia was out of her reach, and there were Walkers chasing her baby.

 _Dare! Oh God Dare, Sophia! There's Walkers chasing Sophia!_

He wasn't there. He was gone. Not gone, gone. He was still alive. But the whole sense of him was just a jangle of nerves in her mind. Carol wasn't sure if it were coming from him, or if her panic was keeping her from being able to communicate anything at all.

When Dare's mother burned in a fire, all she'd gotten was static for the longest time before she could make out the words. She just started repeating herself, waiting for him to hear her.

Lori's arms had more strength than it seemed like it would be possible for them to have. The other woman was holding her, but Carol couldn't tell if she was being held up or held back.

Rick followed Sophia into the woods. Then Daryl came out of nowhere, hurtling over the guardrail like it was nothing, passing Rick before they even made it to the tree line.

 _Dare, our girl. Our princess. Oh God, Dare._


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

He was hiding underneath a corpse and surrounded by dead people when he stopped being afraid.

Up until then, he was still telling himself things like 'just a coincidence', 'don't jump to conclusions'. Then, when no amount of denial could make it just a coincidence, he thought about how he could watch out for her and still have what they always had. That she didn't have to see him. That he didn't want her to be disappointed in who he turned out to be.

That he didn't have to see her realize he was just Daryl, a sorry excuse for a man and worse excuse for a friend.

All of that changed when he heard a name ring through his head on the edge of a scream.

 _Sophia._

Daryl didn't have time be afraid. Or maybe Daryl was still lying on that asphalt somewhere, he didn't know.

But Dare? Dare flew. He flew through the dead, he flew past the group. He sailed over the guardrail and into the shadow of the trees, until he saw her there. There were two of the damned things almost on top of her.

Sophia was sprinting away from everyone, too panicked to know friend from foe. She was too used to danger being everywhere to recognize help when it was coming to her.

He caught up to the first one with a roar loud enough to wake any dead not already Walking. His knife sank into it's eye socket with a squish. Blood and putrid, decaying flesh stuck to his hands as he found his feet again and shoved off the ground in one motion, tackling the second with all the force he could muster and riding it to the ground, stabbing it over and over until blood and bits of bone were everywhere.

He looked up to see her in the distance, still running, and took off again.

She was afraid of him, too. He had to get in front of her.

She ran like a rabbit on speed, but Dare was filled with adrenaline and something else, a voice in his head, shouting. _Our girl. Our girl. Our girl._

He grabbed her round the waist and held on, making shushing noises, as close to what he'd heard people do for babies as he could get.

She wasn't a baby, their girl. Not anymore. He never got to hold her when she was that small, but he could remember every nuance of what Carol had shared in those first minutes of Sophia's life. He'd held them in his memory, taking them out to look at when things got hard or when Merle was being particularly annoying. This girl was all knees and elbows, older now than Carol had been the first time she saved him. The Princess Sophia was so far from that baby, but somehow her nose was still wrinkling in just the same way before she let out a squawk. It made him smile, even though she was still struggling to get away from him.

"Just me. Just Dare. I gotcha. You okay. You're good. You're okay. Shush now. I gotcha."

She stopped wiggling at least, but he didn't let go yet. She was taking deep, hiccupping breaths and there were fat tears running down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry!," she shouted.

And he remembered that. What that was like. He remembered screaming 'sorry' into the air like it would stop what was coming and he wanted to kill Ed again for making her shout apologies instead of feeling safe.

"Don't be. You run good. Near didn't catch ya. That's just what you do you see them dead fu – things, yeah? I let ya down now, you gonna be good to stay here? Got the runnin' outcha system?"

She nodded, little hands coming up to wipe at some of the mess he'd got on her shirt.

No tellin' what he looked like.

Rick Grimes was standing, mouth hanging open, on the other side of the creek. Dare nodded at him, grinning.

Sophia made a disgusted sound, then turned away from him and retched. Dare found himself rubbing her back, waitin' for her to breathe a little slower before he knelt in front of her.

"How about you hop on my back for the trip back. Be quicker, and your mama's worried."

Her mama was a string of screeching in the back of his mind that didn't seem to hear him when he answered her. It might be better this way, though.

"You're covered in gunk."

"You too," he said, grinning. "Come on. Have a dragon ride."

Her bottom lip worked its way between her teeth. "It's a piggy back ride."

"Who in their right mind would wanna ride a pig? Naw, I'm a Dragon."

She looked at him like he was crazy. Maybe he was.

"You're a dragon."

"Yep. You ain't never read Pern?"

He knew better. Carol would never let her little girl miss out on Pern.

And he was right, too, because Sophia's face lit up. "Mama loves Pern! What color Dragon are you?"

"Pfffft. You want a ride or not?"

She held on so tight she nearly cut off his air. He made a show of choking and gasping for air until her little arms loosened a hair and she made a sound that was almost a laugh, then they took off toward the highway at a trot.

Grimes was shaking his head and looking befuddled as they passed them, but at least he had the good sense to walk between Sophia and what was left of the Walkers Daryl just killed.

Daryl did what he could to make the ride fun. He bounced now and then, dodged between trees and under low hanging limbs. He might have gone so far as making whooshing noises, but he would deny it with his dying breath. He told himself that it was all about making the tremors running through Sophia's body stop, or that he was hoping sending just how ridiculous he was being toward Carol would make the panicked repeating of their girl's name slow enough for him to tell her that everybody was okay.

Any and all of those things would be true.

It would also be true that the fear was trying to come back.

 _I got her. The Princess Sophia is just fine._ He said again. The words had been repeating since he first closed his arms around the girl.

 _Dare?_ Carol's voice was very, very small and hesitant. _You? How?_

 _I'm, uh…_

But they were there, and Sophia said it for him. "Daryl gave me a dragon ride!"

Carol hit him full force, reaching around him to run her hands over Sophia's back, sobbing and not even seeming to notice, never mind worry about, the filth they were covered in.

 _Don't get that on ya. Step back. I'm gonna let her down._

He watched them there in the middle of the road, wrapped around each other and both of them blubbering, for a long time.

 _So, this is my man face._

 _You saved our girl._

 _Just don't say that out loud. Gonna confuse her._

Carol shook her head. _She's always been yours, Dare._

Daryl's shuffled his feet, his eyes darting around at the crowd that had gathered around them. It occurred to him he was covered in sweat and mud and blood and bone, and he ducked his head as he tried to move away without drawing too much attention to the fact that he was moving away.

Carol caught him, pulling Sophia with her as she stepped in close and used the sleeve of her sweater to wipe at the mess that was his face.

"You're a mess," she said, frowning. "God, Dare, how many were there?"

"I don't know but I think there were lots," Sophia said.

"Just two. Ain't nothin'," Dare said, stepping back. "You're gonna get it all on ya clothes. I'll – "

"There's water. Someone will get you water. And some towels?"

Carol was staring at him with a look on her face he never imagined anybody could ever turn his way. Her eyes were blue, big and shining, and there were freckles across her nose. He'd never seen her this close up before, and he caught himself swallowing convulsively.

"Yeah, I'll just…" he shrugged, but didn't move.

"Dare?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't move," Carol said.

And then she kissed him. Right out in the real world, in front of everybody.


End file.
